1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates in general to the graphic arts including painting and sketching and in particular to a device which assists the artist in various tasks such as matching tone, framing, isolating small regions of color on a larger object, determining perspective, etc.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art:
The tasks faced by an artist attempting to produce an aesthetically pleasing artistic creation by the viewing of natural objects in the environment are varied and difficult. For example, if working in a color medium, the artist may decide to attempt to reproduce the actual color of the natural object. In order to do so, he must not only determine the actual hue of the color of the object (that is, whether it is red, blue, green, etc.) and how saturated the color is, but he must also determine the value of the color, that is, the amount of light reflectance from the object. While the artist may attempt such a color matching by use of a set of color standards such as is found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,612,791 and 3,384,983, such devices tend to be somewhat cumbersome to carry and awkward to use.
Many artists do not need a complete set of color samples to successfully reproduce the color of an object in the environment. Frequently, the artist may be able to successfully determine the correct hue and saturation of the color of the object without the aid of such devices as are described in the above-referenced patents. However, it is not unusual for the artist to have difficulty in determining the correct color value or degree of reflectance of the object. The factors of hue and saturation tend to distract the eye and prevent a correct determination of color value from being made. While some artists use a conventional gray scale, which typically comprises a series of sequentially graded fields ranging from black to white, again, it is difficult to match the actual colored object with the uncolored field which most correctly matches the value of the object.
The artist may encounter additional problems, such as determining the perspective of the objects in his visual field and how to reproduce the correct perspective on a flat sheet of paper. He may require assistance in correctly framing that portion of his visual field which is of interest. Since most objects are not of a uniform overall color, but are composed of a number of smaller areas of varying colors, the artist may wish to visually isolate a small area of an object in order to ascertain its correct color. Additionally, if he wishes to artistically depict a plurality of objects which appear in his visual field, it may be helpful to be able to visually separate the plurality of objects in order to ascertain their correct visual relationship to each other.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a device which provides an easy way of determining the correct color value or degree of refractance of an object or objects in an artist's visual field.
It would also be desirable to provide a device which incorporates a number of artist's aids into a single device which is convenient and easy to use.
It would also be desirable to provide such a device which is portable, easily storable, and relatively inexpensive to produce and to purchase.